On 26 April, in our show Queeroes, we went in search of the heroic figures of our community… only to realise that each of us could be the hero of our own story.
In the packed Centre Culturel d’Uccle, the tension mounts just a few minutes before the start of the show. Backstage, the members of Sing Out Brussels are concentrating. It’s time for final make-up and costume adjustments, moments of complicity and mutual support. Before taking to the stage, our choir director Emily Allison brings us together in this cramped space to sing Chaleur Humaine, by Christine & The Queens. It’s a moment of reconnection. An emotional moment too. A final word of encouragement and the sixty choristers take to the stage. And the curtain opens.
The atmosphere is sombre. All the choristers are dressed in black, wearing heavy, thick coats and accessories that conceal their bodies and sometimes their faces. They embark on a quest in search of heroes (Holding Out For a Hero). Some of them take the floor to talk about the queer heroes they have seen in books, on television or in the cinema, and sometimes simply in the street (Troisième Sexe).
The atmosphere comes alive with Pink Pony Club. It’s time to party and dance in a space where we can truly be ourselves. The atmosphere is lighter, clothes come off and bodies are revealed. The audience wants more! Yet this balance is fragile and we know that it could break at any moment (Porselein). But we find the strength to stand up and proudly claim our rights (Amour Censure).
Finally, we realise that we’ve been looking for heroes for a long time, but there they are, all around us. They are all those who, all over the world, one day stood up to take to the streets and demand rights for our LGBTQI+ community (Nina Cried Power, one of the highlights of the show, illustrated by an archive video of Prides around the world). Part 1 ended with Found/Tonight, to illustrate how far we’ve come and the solidarity needed to achieve our victories.
During the interval, it’s hectic backstage. We don’t really have time to celebrate our performance, as we have to get ready for Part2 and put on our bright and colourful costumes. And here we are on stage again.
We put aside our doubts to proudly assume who we are (without forgery) and question our identities: what is a girl, what is a boy? And since we can decide what we are and who we are, can’t we also be queeroes who can be called on for help at any time (Call me). And because our lives and the world don’t always run smoothly, we know we have to fight. So we fight (Fighter). We knew this song had the potential to lift the crowd, and the audience didn’t disappoint! Then it’s time for an emotional moment: we pay tribute to all the Queeroes who, throughout time and space, have inspired the members of our choir (Chaleur Humaine, again illustrated by videos featuring each of these important characters).
As the show draws to a close, we appeal to all the queeroes who will be following us: nothing can stop us. This is the climax of the show: a mashup of seven iconic songs celebrating heroism.
As an encore, we reprise ‘You can’t stop the beat’, with a frenzied choreography and a finale as close as we can get to our beloved audience. Queeroes is already over! This show took us a year and a half to put together: choosing the repertoire, learning the songs and choreography, writing the script and directing. Dozens of volunteers, both inside and outside our choir, have been mobilised to bring this project to fruition. We’re already looking to the future: the European festival of LGBTQI+ choirs Various Voices, which we’ll be hosting next year, and our next big show in 2027, the theme of which will be love!
